Police are appealing to residents to refuse entry to unknown and unexpected callers after a man posed as a water board official to gain entry to a property in Pershore Grove, Carshalton, on Friday (7th May) at around 2.00pm.

The doorstep caller flashed an ID card and asked to come in to test the taps - turning them ‘30 times one way and ten times the other’.

The 90-year-old resident let the man into his kitchen where he checked the taps and the cupboards underneath the sink. A second suspect entered the terraced property via the open front door and searched the hallway, lounge and the upstairs bedrooms. He then left by the front door unseen by the resident.

The caller who was in the kitchen then made his excuses and left, walking towards Peterborough Road. The resident then called police. No items are believed to have been stolen.

One man was described as a white male, aged 25-27 years, about 5ft 7in tall, of slim build with a spotty or rashy face where a beard would grow. A neighbour described two young males in their 20s in a dark coloured Ford Focus driving slowly up and down the road about five minutes before the incident.

PC Pat Simcox, of Sutton’s Crime Prevention Team, urged residents not to allow in callers that they didn’t know or weren’t expecting. “If in doubt, keep them out,” she said. “And call police. The sooner we are there, the sooner we can deal with it.”

If you can help police with their enquiries into this incident please call Sutton CID on 020 8649 0747. Alternatively, you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.